In the first of an occasional series looking at life experiences from an individual’s perspective, CHOE BRERETON spoke to Vanessa Archibald about her time aboard the OM missionary ship, the Logos Hope…
Vanessa Archibald left a well-paid job and a comfortable life on Sydney’s northern beaches to follow her calling as a missionary. She boarded Operation Mobilisation’s missionary ship in September 2007 and spent more than 18 months aboard. Writing while still aboard the Logos Hope she lets us into her new life – what it has taught her and the person she has become because of it.
My name is Vanessa Archibald however everyone calls me by my nickname ‘Vanoosh’. I was originally born and grew up in Durban, South Africa, however, I have lived in Australia for over 11 years and I come from the beautiful northern beaches suburb of Manly in Sydney. I am a registered psychologist and I used to work as an injury manager for a large insurer in the workers’ compensation industry.
NEW RELATIONSHIPS: Vanessa Archibald with some of the new friends she made during her time on the Logos Hope.
“The Logos Hope has enormous potential to reach millions of people from all over the world. We want to show God’s love in a practical way and we do this through sending out teams of people to partner with the local churches and sometimes with other mission organisations.”
Currently, I live on a missionary ship called the Logos Hope, which is part of a non-profit organisation called Operation Mobilisation (OM).I signed on for a two year ‘Global Action’ program and joined the OM Ship Ministry in September 2007 with a pre-ship group called PST Cuxhaven – Cuxhaven, Germany, was our joining port. I spent two weeks prior to that at a global orientation conference in De Bron, The Netherlands, with hundreds of other missionaries from around the world who were going out into different fields.
I have worked on board the Logos Hope as the project worker coordinator for just over one year.Recently I moved into a new role as the development manager for our Partner Ministries division. As project worker coordinator, I liaised with OM home offices around the world coordinating and reviewing applications for thousands of volunteer project workers who have come to the ship for various periods of time to assist us in completing the outfit project for Logos Hope.
OM has nearly 5,000 missionary workers in over 100 countries around the world. We currently have two OM ships – Doulos, which has just visited Australia from July 2008 to September 2008, and Logos Hope, which is our newest ship. Prior to this, we had the Logos which was purchased in 1970 and which sailed around the world until it was shipwrecked on some rocks in the south of Chile in 1988. In 1977, as the ship ministry grew, OM bought the Doulos which is the world’s oldest passenger going ship having been built in 1914 – just two years younger than the Titanic. In 1989, a year after the Logos tragedy, they purchased the Logos II which is the ship that I boarded in September 2007. I sailed down the Kiel canal on the Logos II and in Kiel, Germany, we waited for two-and-a-half months for the Logos Hope to arrive from Trogir, Croatia. I then spent another seven months in Kiel on board the Logos Hope.
The Logos Hope has enormous potential to reach millions of people from all over the world. We want to show God’s love in a practical way and we do this through sending out teams of people to partner with the local churches and sometimes with other mission organisations. We come along side these churches to encourage, build up and motivate the local believers as well as to evangelise, mainly through visiting prisons, schools, hospitals, old age homes, children’s orphanages as well as doing street evangelism through drama, music, mime, clowning, dances and other talents and skills that the crew on board acquire and bring into God’s service.
After seven years of procrastination about being a missionary, the turning point came in April 2006. After watching a DVD about the ‘invisible children’ of Uganda, my heart just broke for these kids who have no-one to advocate on their behalf, and so I finally submitted to God’s leading, prayed and told Him that I was ready to go wherever He wanted me to serve. God then provided me with an amazing calling, which confirmed that the time was right. Through a key ring, He spoke the verse of Philippians 4:13 into my life in Afrikaans (a South African language) and subsequently, He gave me two more verses – Mark 10:29-30 and Luke 22:35- which were then confirmed into my life four times each through different people, using the different Gospels but always bringing the same message. This took place over a three month period and then by June ’06, I knew I was going to be a missionary. God showed me OM ships. A year later, I left Sydney without a doubt in my mind that I was finally living out God’s will in my life.
God was also amazingly faithful. When it came to my financial support, He provided in abundance completely through answer to prayer. This was a real testimony to God’s faithfulness as I was very concerned about how I would achieve financial support without earning any money for two years.
It was a very difficult decision to make. After seven years of procrastination about being a missionary and doing a lot of things to prepare for being a missionary, God knew that I still needed to receive a very strong and undeniable calling to mission. I realised that I had been disobedient to God’s will and the leading of His Spirit in my life and I could no longer be authentic in my faith if I did not live out what God was laying on my heart.
I have been so blessed with the support and encouragement of my Christian friends. In June ’06, seven of us formed a grouped we fondly termed ‘MPT’ – Mission Prayer Team – and we met faithfully once a month to pray for each other specifically about where God was leading us into mission. This gave me such peace and strength to know that God was with us in all our decisions for the future. Not surprisingly, God has answered every one of our prayers.
My family, who live in South Africa, were initially concerned. They worried that I was having a mid-life crisis and since they had no knowledge of OM or the ship or what missionary life was about, they were less supportive and rather sceptical. However, they understood that my faith in God is my primary focus and so they did not deter me in my steps. My parents came to stay and visit me on board the Logos Hope in early October 2008 which was fantastic. They loved it and they are now completely supportive and understanding of what God is doing, not only in my life, but in the lives of people from all over the world.
THE SHIPPING NEWS: The Logos Hope, the ship upon which Vanessa Archibald served, and the Logos Hope coming into a new port.
I live in a community of 350 believers from over 45 different nations around the world. My lifestyle is completely different. Living on a ship has a number of limitations, challenges and also exciting opportunities. I’ve learnt heaps about cross cultural communication, interactions and differences that make us all unique and valued. We all have the same vision and because we are also interdenominational, we live a truly unique life in that this is a small slice of heaven. We are unified by one thing – our love for God and our passion to serve God and others. We celebrate our differences, resolve conflict and community issues with Biblical principles and learn from each other so that we can grow in our characters and mature in our faith.
I have learnt to live and do things with only a few euros in my pocket.I no longer earn any money and the freedom I have experienced in not being bound by how much money I earn and how much money I have in the bank has been surprising and quite delightful. I am no longer defined by what I do, how much I earn and what position I hold within a particular organisation or job. Money is meaningless to me, except that I realise the world revolves around it, but it is not a motivator for me to serve God and people. I need less and gain so much more. One of my greatest fears about being a missionary was my financial security and I can honestly say that I have not wanted for anything since I left Sydney over a year ago. God has provided through the amazing generosity of friends, supporters and family and I could not want for more than what He provides because His provision is always sufficient.
Being able to live and learn about people from all over the world is amazing. It’s a unique environment to celebrate our differences speaking the truth to one another in love without judgment. I have also learnt how to confidently share the Gospel message through various tools and skills, which we have been taught, and I’ve been completely impacted by the knowledge that everything that God does is for His glory.
I am walking a road of freedom. In September 2008, I experienced a major breakthrough in my life and have been transformed through God’s love and the power of His Holy Spirit. I wholeheartedly desire to continue serving God and others through long-term work whether at home in Sydney or overseas. The revelations of knowing God more and realising that everything is for His glory has changed the way I view the world, my life and everything that happens to me. God is completely sovereign and I’ve learnt to also walk in prayerful obedience to Him daily. I have also learnt to depend on Him and trust in Him for all things because nothing is beyond Him, nothing is impossible for Him and He is faithful beyond my wildest imagination. His surprises are just the most fantastic blessing I could ever hope for.
God is faithful and everything He does is for His glory. Take a chance, a leap of faith with Him and let your life be a living sacrifice. When you know Him through reading and obeying His Word you can trust Him and follow the leadings of His Holy Spirit. In this way, you will also be able to love Him as he has commanded – with all your mind, all your strength, all your soul and all your heart. When you surrender your life to Him, you will bring Him glory and He will bring you blessings that will surprise you beyond your wildest imagination and He will lead you into eternal glory in His presence forever.
Postscript: In April, 2009, Vanessa finished her tour of duty on the Logos Hope. She has come back having done what she never imagined she could do and having seen how truly powerful and faithful God is.
To find out more about OM ships, see www.logoshope.org and www.omships.org.
